Today, vehicles such as cars, boats, and aircrafts move at speeds that expose their occupants to the risk of body injury and death in the event of a collision. Car accidents are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Annually, about 3 million people are injured, many are permanently disabled and many die as a result of their injuries. Seatbelts and inflatable safety devices (air bags) have undoubtedly saved innumerable lives. However, one issue with airbags and seatbelts is that they are deployed after a collision and not before.
Measures to prevent collisions are far more valuable in saving lives than measures deployed after a crash. Sensors have been utilized to prevent accidents such as using ultrasound, video cameras, lasers and radar. However, signals/alarms emanating from monitoring these sensors are available only to the driver of the vehicle into which they are integrated, and not to drivers of other vehicles. In addition, once a collision has occurred, there is currently no reliable method to immediately discover, quantify and report the accident.
Fender benders are the most common type of motor vehicle accidents. Two million or more occur each year, in parking lots, when backing up into oncoming traffic, or when stopping suddenly. Although rarely a cause of serious injuries, fender benders often result in costly repairs and increased in insurance rates. In order to prevent Fender Benders, a variety of technologic advances have been deployed. Recently, forward-collision detection and lane-departure electronic signals warn the driver of the vehicle to take corrective action, usually by a visual and/or audible warning whenever a car strays from its lane or gets too close to the car ahead. Color coding of the closeness to the car ahead helps to alert the driver as to the distance ahead, green, yellow and red. These warnings are often muted at low speeds, such as less than 15 miles per hour. Forward-collision detection and lane-departure detection systems typically rely on radar, ultrasound, or camera imaging.
Tailgating is responsible for more than one third of all motor vehicle accidents. Tailgating is defined as a vehicle encroaching on the safe space between that vehicle and a leading vehicle (the car ahead of you). When tailgating occurs, it is often impossible to stop your vehicle in the event that the leading vehicle decelerates suddenly, resulting in a collision. This “safe” distance varies with several factors such as vehicle specification and make, speed of vehicle, road conditions, darkness (ambient light), and weather conditions. Current sensors are available to estimate this “safe” distance, but the information is only available to the driver of the vehicle on which those sensors are integrated. Safety tips such as maintaining a distance between your vehicle and the leading vehicle (e.g. car ahead of you) often suggest keeping 10 feet of distance for every 10 mile per hour of speed. For instance, 60 feet is deemed a safe distance for speeds of 60 mph. This distance increases during inclement weather. There is also a two second rule between the vehicle and the leading vehicle as each passes a stationary object (e.g. a light post or a road sign). This relies on the driver accurately measuring two seconds between when the leading vehicle passes the stationary object and when the driver's vehicle passes the stationary object. The two second rule applies to dry road conditions, as four seconds is recommended for wet roads, and ten seconds for snow or ice-covered roads. Tailgating is not only illegal but also causes serious and fatal accidents. In addition, tailgating is rarely documented.
Drivers of vehicles backing up in a parking lot may have difficulty seeing pedestrians or other vehicles in the line of travel. Similarly, drivers parking (looking for a parking space) and pedestrians may have difficulty seeing cars that are backing out of parking spaces.
Many vehicular accidents are avoidable. Often, a driver of a first vehicle (index vehicle) is following too close behind a second vehicle and, when the second vehicle slows down or stops, the driver of the first vehicle (index vehicle) has insufficient time to stop, thereby resulting in a collision.
Drivers are human, and each driver constantly makes driving decisions based upon speed, road conditions, traffic, etc. It is often recommended that one maintain at least one car length per ten miles per hour, but it is often difficult to determine five or six car lengths, as this is an imaginary distance and based on a fictional car size as imagined by the driver. Other than vehicle velocity, stopping distance is impacted by the road surface, road conditions (e.g. wet, snow, ice), tire conditions, vehicle load, tire condition, tire pressure, brake shoe wear, etc. These factors also apply to self-driving vehicles.
To this, it is difficult for a driver to know what a safe following distance might be given such diverse condition. Yet, driving at a safe distance from other vehicles is critical to avoiding accidents.
There have been some limited attempts to provide a system that projects an image onto the roadway for helping with distance control between vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,221,509 to Lai for a Display Apparatus and Vehicle Having Projector Device has a display projection system for a vehicle that presents data on a roadway surface in front of the vehicle. The shape, size, and/or location of the projected image are not dynamic and does not change based upon factors that are critical to preventing a collision such as vehicle speed, road conditions, steering wheel rotation, etc., and therefore cannot be relied upon to reliably prevent collisions U.S. Pat. Publication 2008/0219014 to Loibi for a Bicycle Bumper with a Light Generating a Bike Lane has a light emitter on a bicycle that emits a pattern indicating to other bikers an unsafe passing area. Again, this is a static pattern that does not change based upon bicycle speed, road conditions, steering direction, etc.
Sometimes, when a collision does occur, one or more occupants of the vehicle(s) involved require medical attention, but medical help is often miles away. As trauma is often involved, the length of time between when the collision occurred and when emergency personnel arrive is critical and even seconds will determine whether some people will live or die. Therefore, in such situations, immediate alerting of emergency responders (e.g. police, fire, ambulance, EMT) is of utmost importance.
Speed of travel is a necessity of daily life that continues to lead to innovations in means of transportation. Faster and safer vehicles come with the drawback of mechanical and electronic failure that leads to accidents, with significant negative impact on physical and psychological health, disability and loss of life. Economic losses are astronomical. Seat belts and inflatable safety devices (interior air bags) have undoubtedly saved many lives since their widespread use, but many have caused some injuries and even death. A collision is defined as the meeting of objects in which each exerts a force upon the other, causing the exchange of energy or momentum. The objects may be stationary or mobile. Most vehicles are equipped with devices that are designed to slow and stop the vehicle before impacting other objects.
External means of deceleration before impact such as exterior airbags exist but failed to gain momentum due to inherent limitations such as the short distance required before effective deployment or impact, extreme bulk and storage space required for safe deceleration and vehicle disability after any deployment.
A conventional (interior) air bag system used for motor vehicles generally includes an inflatable folded air bag, a collision sensor that senses the collision of the vehicle and generates a collision-sensing signal. An electronic control unit receives the collision signal and controls the operation of the airbag by signaling the inflator to inject gas or air into the folded air bag. The air bag is then deployed and inflates against the occupants of the vehicle. The collision sensor is mounted to the forefront of the vehicle. Upon collision of the vehicle with another vehicle or object, the collision sensor will receive the shock of the impact, and generates a collision sensing signal and supplies it to the electronic control unit, and if this exceeds a certain preset value, the electronic control unit will provide the inflator with the air bag expansion triggering signal. The explosive combustion of a pyrotechnic or other substance and a gas generating material being an ignitable material included in the inflator will instantaneously supply the folded air bag and result in sudden full inflation. The inflator includes a cylindrical container with a chamber containing a squib, a pyrotechnic material, and a gas generating material being an ignitable substance.
An externally mounted air bag arrangement is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,265 to Baber. The air bag is housed in a bumper-like chamber that is activated automatically after impact and relies upon the cushioning effect of the inflated air bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,463 to Chou describes a shock absorber such as rubber cell with a compression spring that deflates upon impact and acts as a cushion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,336 to Balgobin describes an air bag with internal shock absorber. The air bag is mounted on the front or rear of the vehicle. The external air bag assembly is located in a cavity in the bumper of the vehicle and includes a deployable shock-absorbing bumper assembly within the air bag that expands forward and provides additional shock absorbing region. The system is activated manually by the occupants of the vehicle using an actuated switch mounted on the dashboard of the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,336 also proposes an alternative automatic switch for activation.
Other patens propose external air bags that are triggered before impact by a variety of sensors such as radar or sonar. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,556 to Tony J. Jacobs teaches an exterior air bag system that provides under-ride protection by an exteriorly mounted sensor that upon impact triggers the deployment of the air bag. The air bag is located on the bottom side of a truck and substantially laterally inwardly from a lateral side periphery. U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,076 to Mercier and LeFeuvre has an energy absorbing buffer device for motor vehicles and a mechanical and hydraulic obstacle detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,038 to Peter A. Dreher has an external air bag system for collision damage reduction triggered by sensors prior to impact. The system reduces contact velocities between a vehicle and an object by use of air bags on the exterior of the vehicle. In an analysis of the physics of the exterior air bags, Newton's Second Law of Motion (Force=Mass×Acceleration) is applied to calculate an area of the bag contact on the front of the vehicle times the bag pressure equals the force on the vehicle. The force on the vehicle divided by its mass equals its deceleration or rate of reduction of velocity per unit time. Therefore, as the bag compresses, the vehicle decelerates, taking longer to compress each subsequent length of the air bag. Thus, the velocity of the vehicle drops exponentially with length of air bag compression. This reference also notes that with air bag compression, the gas pressure inside the bag rises inversely proportional to the remaining space in the bag in an exponential manner. In other words, an un-vented air bag slows a vehicle at a fast and exponential rate. This reference notes a problem of severe rates of deceleration and its effect on the compression of vital organs of the occupants of the vehicle, such as the brain, which may result in injury and death. It is known that rate of deceleration exceeding 18 g's is not tolerated by humans. This reference presents a mathematical model using an exterior air bag measuring 5 feet in length and 4 feet in width and 2.5 feet high, starting at in initial inflation pressure of 15 psig to handle 3,000 pounds motor vehicle with passengers colliding with an immovable object. A silicone rubber coated fabric with no holes is used in order to hold the initial bag pressure and includes two pressure relief valves to expel gas when the compression is under way. As long as the bag pressure stays below 62 psig on a 3,000 lb. motor vehicle with 6 square feet of frontal area, the car deceleration stays under 18 g's. Weakly sewn pieces of fabric (0.4 and 0.3 square foot patch) will act as relief valves at pressures of 30 and 40 psig. Note that with the disclosed design, it may take 200 milliseconds to fully inflate the airbag for an average vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,909 to David S. Breed includes a method to distance the passenger from the side door during side impact. An internal air bag is activated prior to collision by using pattern recognition of radiant energy from the impacting object or vehicle. By using two inflators with variable inflation rates that inflated 2 air bags independently of each other, by way of 2 independent crash sensors. The air bags inflate between the vehicle occupant and the side door. Also disclosed is using an external air bag stored within the side door to be deployed prior to impact to cushion of the impact. Not addressed is pattern recognition techniques and methods to assess the probable severity of a pending impact utilizing ultrasound, electromagnetic waves system, and infrared electromagnetic waves as well as pedestrian protection.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,749,218 to Breed, more details of an externally deployed air bags system are shown. This includes side air bags as well as air bags in the front as well as the rear of the vehicle and provisions to cushion a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,057 to Breed et al, systems for vehicular monitoring using image processing are described including a monitoring system for the environment interior and exterior to the vehicle and using the information thus obtained to control the inflation of air bags and other systems in the vehicle. Pattern recognition system is used to enable controlled inflation of the air bags prior and during collision. Also disclosed is a monitoring system to assess passenger position during impact and methods to minimize collision damage as well as cameras surrounding the vehicle in order to view the interior as well as the exterior of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,093 to Phillip Schneider describes an energy absorption, rotation and redirection system for use with a vehicle astride a barrier. An external air bag system is described that does not cover the entire surface of the vehicle, and specifically addresses bumper and side air bags for protection against road barriers. In addition, the invention teaches not to attempt to substantially absorb the force of the impact with the surrounding barrier, but rather to only absorb a minimal portion of the impact, while converting the majority of the force of the impact into a rotating and redirecting force thereby dissipating the energy by use of a circular motion. A plurality of airbags along the front and sides of the vehicle, each constructed of a heavy-duty nylon material with concentric inner and outer layers, to take into account the chance of puncture of the outer layer before the airbag is fully deployed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,237 to Daniel M Cho describes at least one interior and at least one exterior air bag system for the protection of vehicles, roadside objects and pedestrians. Such includes an intricate system that relies on an external and an internal detection system as well as wireless technology to predict collision and to minimize damage to people and property.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,552 and 5,646,613 to Myungeun Cho teaches the use of exterior air bags located to the front, sides and back of vehicles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,803 to Shawn G. Ryan describes pedestrian protection using a scuttle area air bag. The exterior air bag inflates along the lower windshield as well as part of the vehicle below the windshield of the vehicle, without obstructing the view of the operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,679 to Miyasaka et al describes a vehicle air bag system that inflates and unfolds to cover the entire front surface of a front pillar to protect a pedestrian during a collision.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,563 to Ryan et al describes a windshield frame air bag for pedestrian protection. When deployed the airbag substantially covers the windshield and adjacent pillars and provides for view ports to maintain a degree of visibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,325 to Reza H. Shah has an external safety bag for a variety of conveyances. For automobiles, the air bag system provides for deceleration and flotation in case of crashes into water. The size of the air bag is almost equal to the size of the automobile, and each bag has two compartments, front and rear. The front of the air bag forms an effective resistive wall to the air in front of the automobile. The top front portion of the front compartment projects forward and in intended to capture the oncoming automobile, and its bottom portion slides under the front of the oncoming automobile. Mr. Shah also describes a plurality of openings in the rear compartment of the automobile air bag in order to maintain adequate pressure in the air bag and minimized rebound during collision. In addition, Shah has weighted air bags to keep them close to the ground, and transparent fabric so as not to block the vision of the driver. The air bag lies between the center of gravity and the center of buoyancy of the watercraft upon deployment.
Other patents by Yamato et al (U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,886), Toshinori Tanase (U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,878) and Yosuke Higashi (U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,786) show air bag systems with unique features.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,168 to Yakov Feldman has a vehicle impact, force-limiting system, using a gas generator located away from the crumble zone of the vehicle, such as the top of the vehicle, and directed along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The gas generator is activated by bumper sensors after the onset of impact, as is customary for internal airbags deployment, or manually by vehicle occupants before perceived collision.
The National Accident Statistics Study have shown that more than 90% of accidents causing air bag deployment occur at crash speeds at 30 mph or less at the time of impact and about 80% of air bag deployments occur below 20 mph. Moreover, the U.S. Federal Government safety regulations require that motor vehicle air bags protect unbelted front seat occupants in frontal barrier crashes where the vehicle is traveling at 30 mph at impact. These strict requirements have led to the installation of the so called “aggressive” air bags that have caused serious injuries and even death. Various means have been proposed to overcome the potential hazards associated with conventional interior air bags. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,231 to Richards et al suggests a variable-volume and variable-inflation air bag.
Exterior bags cause deceleration primarily upon impact with other vehicles or objects. Exterior bags have limited distance to collision structure as after inflation, exterior air bags begin to loose pressure. Also, in order to provide safe and effective deceleration, exterior airbags must be voluminous, thereby necessitating long inflation time before impact. Such airbags potentially obstruct the view of the vehicle occupants. In addition, upon deployment of exterior air bags, Bernoulli wind forces may cause undesirable lift of air bags. In order to rectify some of these issues, U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,038 to Peter A. Dreher includes a strip of porous material on the upper side of the bag to create a vent with an upward jet that will cause a downward force on the air bag. This air bag also has a 10 to 40 degrees backward slant on a front surface of the air bag creating an aerodynamic foil that pushes the bag downward as it moves forward through the air.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,325 to Reza H. Shah proposes that air bags be weighted such that upon inflation, the air bag will stay close to the pavement to ensure that the air bag would not rise above the hood of the vehicle.
Yet another limitation of an exterior inflatable safety device is that it typically requires large storage space near the exterior of the vehicle and is costly to replace. Once deployed, the external air bags usually render the vehicle inoperable.
What is needed is a system that will prevent collisions by emitting one or more jets of a liquid prior to impact.